I seem to average @ 25 calls per hour...using the automated system we are required to use. (It is also a contact management tool.) I have been doing 100 to 150 calls a day for my Cold Calling component.

How does that compare to others using Cold Calling as one of their prospecting techniques?

FOUR HOURS A DAY!!! My head would explode doing it that long, if not for the fact that my throat would have given out long before that. IfI can get my calls in I will do an hour or two half hour sessions and just knock 'em out.

50-100 is what I keep hearing but I can't see those numbers happening while using the automated system we use.

Maybe if I was calling off a paper list it would be faster?

I'm trying to do @ least 4 hours on the phones daily.

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IF you're working hard with a good concise script and only getting 25 dials/hour your system if f*cked up. You would definitely work faster with a paper list. Never mind if you use a few tricks like "double dialing", and moving to the next call after 5-6 rings with no answer, you can get up to about 150 dials/hr(this assuming that of course you're not getting a lot of phones being answered and long conversations.) I hit that rate a few times when I was really rocking. Then again, I had much better success finding qualified leads when I was working a richer list with more folks who picked up the phone.

In my peak cold-calling days I was calling about 3-4 hours a day. Would dial for 50 minutes then take a 10 minute bathroom and smoke break, then right back to the phones. Never hang up the receiver when you're dialing out. Make a couple of quick notes and move on to the next one.

Most days I have the headset on about 4 hours per day. Of that, about 3 hours is smiling and dialing. I pass the time by updating my Outlook with notes from calls, surfing college basketball sites and looking at the talent on Eventvibe.com (great pix on there)…

blarmston:Most days I have the headset on about 4 hours per day. Of that, about 3 hours is smiling and dialing...

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I don't have very good luck with headsets. (Makes me sound like I'm in a tunnel.) I've considered trying one of the "Plantronics"-brand headsets. Which one do you use, blarm? Is it wireless? If so, any problems with static given the proximity to your computer or any other electronics?

I actually got my operations manager to pony up money for a Hello Direct headset... I wanted the wireless version so I can walk around and throw a football at my buddies when they walk by, but they wouldnt go for it... All in all, a decent piece, but youre right in that sometimes it gets a little staticky ( sp).

I actually got my operations manager to pony up money for a Hello Direct headset... I wanted the wireless version so I can walk around and throw a football at my buddies when they walk by, but they wouldnt go for it... All in all, a decent piece, but youre right in that sometimes it gets a little staticky ( sp).

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Blarm suck it up and cough up 300 big ones for the Plantronics wireless....worth every penny! I think it's the model cs50.

Seriously, though - as long as the contacts are being established, that's the bottom line. Once the practice is large enough to grow naturally through referrals, life gets much easier. Whether you build through cold calling or other methods, continuing to market is vital. I have a huge stream of referrals coming through that pay off in a big way, but I can't rely on that alone and still make 70-90 cold calls/day, just to keep the pipeline where I want it.

A stack of lead cards or-a little more cumbersome) two pages from a paper list-

Step one-dial the number on list one on line #1. Quickly put that line on hold.

Step two-Flip to the line two and dial the first number on stack or list #2. Put that line on hold quickly....

Step three-and flip back to line 1 to see if anyone has answered. If you're switching quickly enough, you will most likely catch the first ring on line #1.

Flip back in forth between to two lines listening for someone to answer, until you've gotten roughly 6 rings. If you don't get an answer by 5-7 rings, hang up both lines and start the process over.

Key thing is to keep one stack of lead cards or one printed page of leads on the left and one on the right to correspond to your phone lines. And if you're using sheets instead of cards, it's a good idea to have some sort of physical marker as to which name you're dialing on each page on each line. Things get moving a little fast and you don't want to start off a cold call by calling someone by the wrong name. Bad karma.

It's a little awkward at first, but if you can learn to play a video game you can learn to do this pretty well. Once you get pretty good at it, and if you don't put the receiver down between calls you can crank out about 150 dials per hour or a little more if you're really cooking.

In the old days before everyone and their mother cold called(chimney sweeps, oil heat salesmen, credit card co's, etc) I could actually get 5-7 qualified leads per hour. More often than not that was calling businesses between 8-10 am East Coast time. It's a little harder now, and I'm too lazy and too busy with other stuff to do it any more.

Good luck. Hope it helps! This was a popular Lehman technique back in the day when they had a huge office at 40 Wall St., from what I understand!

Rookies, please read: However, if you do cold call areas you have no intention of traveling to, make sure you never drop the ticket on an order, until the prospect's check has CLEARED. (Lesson from my rookie years.)

For those rookies who don't know: If you drop a ticket to buy an investment, but the prospect's check never arrives or bounces, and the value of that investment drops (in the meantime), you're stuck with the loss. If you're lucky and it goes up in value, you'll receive a credit in your broker account (which you CAN'T spend), but will be used to offset any future losses - because you were a DA and didn't learn your lesson the first time!